Objectives: The genus Salvia is one of the most widespread members of the Lamiaceae family and S.virgata Jacq. decoction is traditionally used for leukemia in Turkey. In this study, water extract and methanol extract of S. virgata were investigated for their antiproliferative effects on Jurkat (Clone E6-1) leukemia cell lines and also GSH-Px, SOD and MDA levels were evaluated as oxidative stress parameters. Methods: The cell proliferation was studied by using Alamar Blue assay and the cell viability determined using trypan blue assay. The phenolic composition of the extracts was also identified using HPLC and pro/antioxidative enzymes were measured to identify if their mechanism of action is related to these phenolic compounds. GSH-Px, SOD and MDA levels were measured using commercial kits. Rosmarinic acid was the main compound in all the extracts. Results and Conclusion: According to the viability results, rosmarinic acid reduced the cell viability around 45%. Methanol extract in both doses reduced the cell viability around 10% methanol extract and rosmarinic acid reduced the GSH-Px and SOD activity as parallel with the cell viability results. All these findings indicate that the water extract at a dose of 0.50 mg/ mL and methanol extract, reducing GSH-Px increasing TBARS might be pro-oxidant on this cell line and probably shows its anti-cancerogen effect over rosmarinic acid. These results agreed with the traditional usage.
Key words: Salvia virgata Jacq, Jurkat cell line, Rosmarinic acid, SOD, GSH-Px, TBARS.